Killers: Reinvent & Believe
by xReaderx
Summary: Oh, he still gets her power. But, it's a bit more...fun this way. AU Oneshot. "The Second Coming." SylarxClaire


**Author shenanigans: I should be updating my actual story within the coming day...But, this just somehow popped into my head. I've written about 10 short stories of Sylaire out of boredom in the past few days, but I didn't like anything until this one. And, what do ya know, it's AU and OOC. Awesome. However, I must comment that I was kind of using the idea thrown out in one of the last episodes that Sylar isn't "good but not all that bad either." It made sense, and I've been listening to my moody music, so...yeah. **

**AU: It's the scene where Sylar takes Claire's power in "The Second Coming" episode. I just wanted to screw with it a little bit :) Actually a lot. I'll explain at the end anything I think may have been confusing. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes. Also, the title I used is a lyric from a song, which sort of inspired this. "Killers reinvent and believe" is a lyric from the song "Rootless Tree" by Damien Rice. It's a great song, and you should listen to it. But, I don't own it. **

**That's it. Shenanigans over. **

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_Killers: Reinvent & Believe_

She'd heard the horror stories.

She'd seen the evidence in the newspapers.

She knew it was always possible he'd get to her.

She just never thought it'd be a place like home.

Home—in all its finality and comfort.

She just assumed it'd be in some dark alley or on a rooftop or something.

Not pinned against her living room wall as the figure of all evil drew closer to her.

She screamed, cried, fought against the invisible bondage he held over her.

He was delirious, blinking as blood flowed out of the wound she'd created.

"Claire…" he breathed.

She sobbed.

"Please, please, don't do this…"

He smirked, seeming amused.

"Do what, Claire?" he asked, curious. "Kill you?"

No, she wanted to say. No. Not kill.

Touch. She didn't want him to touch her.

Instead, she didn't reply, his body merely inches from hers radiating heat even as the color drained from his face.

"I never could, Claire. Even if I wanted to."

Her eyes widened as his trembling fingers lifted and brushed a disheveled piece of hair out of her face, lingering subtly to trace the outline of her jaw.

She shuddered.

"I never thought the cheerleader would be so…"

She closed her eyes.

"…Interesting."

She whimpered as his hand slid along her neck before his palm pressed against her collarbone, descending lower to her breast.

"Please!" she shrieked, eyes snapping open. "Please, please, don't touch me!" She gasped a sob, incoherent terror bursting forth. "You can have my power, but please…don't touch me…"

He withdrew his hand as though she'd bitten him, surprise written all over his face along with a dash of intrigue.

"I take it you've had some bad experiences in that field before…"

She wanted to reply, but her head dropped in shame.

He sighed.

"No need to fret, Claire-Bear," he comforted. "I'm not here for anything like that today."

Though it didn't ease her tension, she was able to finally meet his gaze.

He was smirking despite the knife protruding from his chest.

In another situation, she might have found that funny.

However, since she was stuck against the wall about to have her head sliced open, there was nothing comical about the situation.

"A-are…A-are you g-going to eat-t my b-brain?"

There was a pause before he chuckled.

"Claire, that's disgusting."

She was unable to stop him as suddenly, his hands grasped her head, covering each of her ears, and she was paralyzed even further, mouth hanging open as she felt his mind assaulting hers.

She was vulnerable, afraid, and as he hooked himself into her consciousness, she was thrown into a rollercoaster of flashing images she was unable to stop.

---

"_Daddy! Daddy! I got hurt!" _

_A small Claire was sobbing as she ran up the driveway, wrapping her arms around her father's legs just as he stepped out of his car. _

_He frowned at his daughter, picking her up and sitting her on the roof of the vehicle. _

"_Where's it hurt, Claire Bear?" _

"_Right here!" She pointed to her knee. "I was runnin' for Lyle, and I fell!" _

_He examined the area she referred to, but he saw nothing but a small patch of dirt that he quickly brushed off. _

"_I don't see anything, baby," he confessed, lifting her leg up and down to make sure it was in working order. "Maybe it wasn't as bad as you thought." _

_The young girl stared with enormous eyes at the perfectly healthy piece of skin. _

"_But it was just bleeding a minute ago! I swear, Daddy!" _

_He smiled good naturedly as he picked her up and put her back on the ground. _

"_Like I said, Claire Bear, maybe it hurt more than it was actually hurt." _

_Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she thought for a moment before shrugging. _

"_I guess so…It doesn't even hurt anymore, Daddy!" _

_And with that, she ran to the bottom of the driveway to rejoin a small Lyle playing with chalk while Noah Bennett closed his eyes, rubbing his temples and shaking his head._

_---_

Claire gasped as she came to again. Her breath was haggard as was his.

"What…what the…"

She couldn't get out a sentence as his angry hands returned to the same place, and she was plunged back into her memories once more.

---

"_Go away, you fag." _

_Claire was shocked as the venomous words fell from Jackie's lips. _

_She'd never heard the girl be such a…such a…_

_Bitch. _

"_Jackie!" she squeaked. "Stop it! Be nice to Zach." _

_The blonde queen turned her oversized head to Claire, rolling her eyes as she did so. _

"_He's not worth the effort, Claire, and if you want to survive on this squad, you better learn that pretty damn fast." _

_Her brow furrowed as she shook her head, looking to Zach who stood innocently by with his bag of purchased CDs while Jackie's cronies merely laughed in perfect unison. _

"_Go ahead, Claire," one of them taunted. "Tell the gaywad to go find himself a boyfriend to suck his-" _

"_Hey! Language, ladies!" Jackie snapped. "We're not trashy." _

_They giggled regardless. _

_Jackie grinned devilishly, returning her attention to Claire. _

"_Do it, Claire. Tell him to leave," she ordered, "or you're off the squad." _

"_What?!" she shrieked, horrified. "That's not fair…"_

_The head cheerleader shrugged. "Beggars can't be choosers!" _

_Claire paused, glancing between the sea of red and white blondes and the thin boy she'd been friends with for as long as she could remember. _

_He met her eyes, and he laughed to himself. _

"_It's okay, Claire," his adolescent voice cracked. "I was just leaving anyway." _

_She disagreed. "No, Zach, I-"_

"_Oh, Claire!" Jackie reminded her of her presence. "We're heading to Mickey D's for salads! In or out?"_

_She was caught in between them, eyes roaming over the faces, unable to choose. _

_Zach waved once he caught her eye again. "See ya, Claire Bear." _

_He turned and mixed into the crowd of mall-goers. _

_Her voice caught in her throat. _

_She wanted to yell at him to stop. _

_But, she couldn't. _

_Jackie dragged her off to eat lettuce instead. _

_---_

She opened her eyes again.

He was staring at her, fury embedded in his features.

"Poor kid," he growled.

She couldn't tell you why she wanted to defend herself to him, but she did.

Like maybe it'd make a difference.

However, she couldn't as she watched in horror while he tugged the knife out of his chest, dropping it to the ground.

He observed it for a moment.

Nothing happened.

He gasped as the realization dawned upon him that he was bleeding.

Badly.

"I guess we'll have to take more drastic…" He had to take a breath. "…drastic measures."

She couldn't protest as his lips slammed against hers.

She almost screamed, but she was taken under the spell.

---

"_I'm Claire Bennett, and this is attempt number two." _

_She spoke to the camera on the tripod before she turned around in the deserted parking lot save the one car opposite her. _

_She signaled to it. _

_And, it came speeding at her. _

_---_

_She struggled against the boy on top of her, kissing her, hand sliding up her thigh and her skirt. _

_She tried to scream, tried to escape. _

_Her back was biting into the bleachers before he threw her onto the grass, forcing her legs apart. _

_She cried. It wasn't supposed to be like that. _

_Finally, she was able to crawl out from under him after a swift attack. _

_But, he was after her, slammed her against the chain link fence. _

_All she remembered was falling before blacking out._

_---_

He pulled away instantly.

She remained unmoving, shock being her prominent feature, along with a bit of hysteria in her tears.

"I'm…I'm sorry…" he whispered.

She blinked, uncomprehending.

His lips were on hers once more, but softer, less harsh.

She cried.

---

_Her foot pressed against the pedal like lead. _

_The light changed to red._

_She ignored it. _

_He was yelling. _

_She smirked. _

_The wall approached. _

_They collided. _

_---_

_Her fingers curled under, and she threw her fist with all her might into Jackie's face. _

_The girl fell to the ground. _

_Zach stood by, clearly in awe. _

_And smiling. _

_---_

_The man with the goofy, boyish hair grinned at her, and her heart thumped. _

_He was a beautiful man. _

_She wished she could tell him that the brave girl who saved the stranger in the train accident was her. _

_But, she couldn't. _

_So, she just smiled sadly at him and left him to his search. _

_---_

_Her face molded itself bloodily against the wall as she was thrown into it. _

_She could hear poor Jackie's screams. _

_She felt immobile, useless as she waited for her body to heal. _

_Finally, forcing herself to stand, she met his gaze as the last gashes faded. _

_She could only vaguely see his eyes in the darkness. _

"_Run," Jackie gasped. _

_She ran. _

_---_

The world came into blinding clarity is he released a long groan into her open mouth.

She squeaked weakly, unable to fight back.

Fear enveloped her.

He pulled away abruptly, gasping as reality breached him.

Mostly because as Claire watched the stab wound in his chest heal, she also couldn't ignore the blatant hardness he had pressed against the tops of her thighs.

He had noticed, too, and swiftly dropped her, turning away to steady his escalating breath.

She pressed herself into the wall watching his hunched over back as he tried to calm himself.

"I'm…I'm so sorry…"

He tried to laugh to himself.

"I guess I specifically said none of that, didn't I?"

She was frozen. It was like driving by a car accident.

She knew she should probably look away, but she couldn't.

"You…y-you…t-touched…m-me…" she stuttered over her words.

She could see him cringe as he looked at her over his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Claire…"

For the first time in a long time, he felt ashamed, dirty.

He was kissing a 17 year old, for Christ's sake. And, he was insanely hard because of it.

There was definitely something sick about that.

But, what was even more twisted was that the young, frightened girl stood up, and though she remained against the wall, she said something that surprised him.

"B-But…you s-stopped…" she whispered. "Y-you…st-stopped…"

Brow furrowed and his pants in a less embarrassing condition, he turned to meet her steady gaze.

She was bewildered.

"Y-you stop…kissing me…" She paused. "…B-but you d-don't st-stop…killing s-someone else…"

He was quiet.

They both knew it was a question, but neither were sure how to answer it.

"I…I just learned this new ability," he replied. "I can…connect with people to gain their powers…" He licked his lips, trying to not acknowledge he could taste her on them. "I learned…I don't have to kill."

She nodded, a dumbfounded expression still on her face.

"So…that's it?" she quipped. "You're just going t-to run around…invading homes…k-kissing people and stealing powers?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Well, when you say it like that…"

She shook her head, confused. "But…what's the purpose?"

He stared darkly into her green eyes, hoping to emphasize his next point. "Power, Claire bear," he claimed. "Revenge. Destiny. All of that and more."

"But you'll have nobody," she blurted before she could stop herself.

That caught him off guard.

She was right, after all.

But, an idea struck him.

"Well, Clair bear, it seems now that neither of us can die," he explained with a smirk, "we'll have time to get to know one another."

She didn't seem too enticed by the thought.

He grinned regardless, walking closer to her.

She held her ground as he approached.

He caught her chin in his fingers, and she was forced to stare up at him.

"Don't worry, Claire. We'll build those bridges soon enough."

And, he captured her lips in one last lingering kiss.

She didn't respond, her body rigid, though as he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, she released a soft moan.

It made his core shudder quietly.

He pulled away curtly, grinning.

"Until next time, Claire Bear."

And, he was out the door, leaving an invincible cheerleader with a lot to think about.

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**So...to explain a few small things. It's AU, so that basically means I can do whatever the hell I want...but just so it makes sense, Sylar is supposed to have an ability to obtain empathy through memory exchange...or viewing. However you'd like to see it. I figured someone gave him this handy-dandy little ability in my AU world, and he happened to accidentally 'connect' with someone and holy crap, he has a new ability! So...that's how that came into play. **

**Sorry if you don't like. Review anyway! Thanks for reading!**


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